Fact-Check: This Image Doesn't Show a Nurse 'Raped & Murdered' in Manipur

This image shows a 21-year-old woman's body who was killed by her parents in Mathura in 2022.

Fact-check: An old image of a dead body found in Mathura is being falsely linked with Manipur.

(Photo: The Quint)

A screenshot of a WhatsApp message, along with the graphic image of a woman's dead body found on a road, is going viral on social media.

What does the claim say?: The claim states that the image shows a nurse working in a hospital in Manipur, who belonged to the Meitei tribal community, was allegedly raped and killed by people from the Kuki tribe.

(Note: We have refrained from adding any archive links due to the distressing nature of the visuals.)

Several users shared this message on social media platforms. 

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

What is the truth?: We found out that this image dates back to November 2022 when a woman's body was found in a red suitcase near Yamuna expressway in Mathura.

• The deceased has been identified as Aayushi Chaudhary who was allegedly shot dead by her parents, who did not approve of her marriage to a man from another caste, as per the police.

How did we find out the truth?: On performing a simple reverse image search on the viral image, we found several news reports about this case.

• We found Amar Ujala and Aaj Tak's reports from 21 November 2022 carrying the viral image.

• The reports stated that this body was identified as Aayushi Chaudhary Yadav, a 21-year-old woman's body.

• It also added that the body was found in a red suitcase near the Yamuna expressway in Mathura.

The article can be seen here.

Source: Aaj Tak/ Screenshot)

• The Quint had also reported on the case and found that the deceased was allegedly shot dead by her parents.

• The report added that Yadav was allegedly shot dead by her parents on 17 November 2022 and dumped on a highway by her parents.

• The police have arrested the parents of the deceased.

What is happening in Manipur?: On 3 May a tribal solidarity march was organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) against the demand for inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.

• Shortly after, Violence erupted in the state that resulted in least 60 deaths and displacement of more than 35,000 people.

Different communal claims around Yadav's case: We had debunked communal claims around this alleged murder last year.

• We had then contacted the Martand Prakash Singh, additional superintendent of police, Mathura, who said, "The incident is not communal. The girl married a guy called Chatrapal Singh Gujjar, who is from a different caste. The girl's parents found out about the wedding and argued, which lead to her murder."

Conclusion: Clearly, an old image of a dead body found in Uttar Pradesh is being falsely shared as an incident of rape and murder in Manipur.

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